Oscillating seat



2 Sheets-Sheet 1 Filed Oct. 9, 1946 INVENTOR.

ROBERT C SWENGEL ffjzkxxw 1954 R. c. SWENGEL 2,668,579

OSCILLATING SEAT Filed Oct. 9, 194a 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 FIG. 3

INVENTOR. EOBEET C 5W N6L Patented Feb. 9, 1954 UNITED 6 TENT orrlcr 7 a $668,579 OSCILLATING SEAT Robert C. Swengel, York, Pa. Application October 9, 1946, Serial No. 702,196

10 Claims.

. This invention rel-ates to an exercising toy of the hobby-horseitype and more particularly to a structure of this character in whichoscillatory movement of abody support trom a normal pentralposition is accomplished by physical efiort of, the occupant andis opposed by springs to an extent proportional to the displacement of the support-from said position, and is an improvement of the structure. shown .in my now abandonedapplication. Serial No. 705,995 filed October 26,1946, for Hobby Horses. v H a vImportant. objects of the. invention a h provision of a constructionuof th-ischaracter such that the spring resistance can be veryreadily regulated, in which the springs serve to maintain assembly ofthe body support with it s supporting members and which may be very readily assembled and disassembled. I 6 a I These and other object'sl attain by the con.- struction shown in thearuzomrianyihgv drawings in which: H

Figure l is a perspective view partiallybroken away of a toy constructedin accordance with my invention the dotted lines indicatingone defiected position of the body support; w H

Figure, 2 is a section on line Zz+2 otlifigure 3;

Figure 3 is a section online 3--3 of Figure 2, and. 6 v I Figure 4 is a section on line i d of Figural Referring .now more particularly ,to the drawings, the numeral I ll designatesa base, H a body support and. I2 substantially parallel members disposed transversely of the b ase lli pivoted at their lowerends thereto atla and extending generally. vertically therefrom, The upper endsof members l2 support body support I l in a manner hereinafter describedi J Base H] may be. of any desired-conformation being at present shown. as comprising parallel side members l4 rnounting pivotsvl3 and connected by upwardly bowedtransversemembers lwhich serve topositively limitdefiection of the body support l-l -ineither direction'through their engagement with members I2. p

. The members l2. may be ofwany suitable construction insuringtheir rigidity against deflection in a-direction. transverse to the base, providing for pivotal mounting at: I3;- so that. they may swing in adirection longitudinal to the base and affording at, their upper ends a transversely disposed bearing engagingelement -lm.As at pres ent disclosed, they comprise inverted U-shaped members thelower ends of thearmsof whichare engaged by.v pivots l3 and the bi htportions of which formthe bearing engaging elements I55 Bearing engaging elements haveseeured thereto ears I! horizontally disposed, and-spaeedto s1ip port between the free ends thereof a bards, parallelling the element It, the purpose of which will presently appear. As shown: these eggs ll are disposed on opposed sides of the elements J6. The body support comprises a seat I 9 attached to the under surface of which is a bracket 62135} the ends of which are formed as oppositely and outwardly facing hooks 2| Fixed in these hooks are outwardly open bearing soclgets n; receiving in the order named a shock-absorbingipad Z 3; preferably of rubber, and an outwardly open U: shaped bearing 24. Socket 22 pad 23 and bearing 24 may be secured to one another in any suitable manner. 1 Bearings 24 receive the transversely disposed bearing engaging elements l6 and assemblage is completed by connecting bars l8 by one'or more springs 25 thereto by engaging the hooked ends 25 of the spring or springs over thebarsn, Ob v viously, these springs will be least'tensioned in the normal central position of body support H and will be increasingly tensioned as the body support moves from this normal position in ither direction. The resistance to displacement can be readily regulated by varying the number of springs 25 which are employed" enabling ready adaptation of the toy for. use by vchildren of difierent weights. Attention is-dir'ect'ed' to the fact that springs 25 in addition to their-funetio'fi of opposing movement of the body support serve to maintain assembly of the elements It with bearings 24. In this connection itwillben'oted (Figure 2) that bars I 8 are, when the-unit is its normal verticaI pesitienspaeed from thebaeks of their associated bearing receivingli'ciolis it a distance such that eventho'uha edged with its associatdliook aniitt I vertically the member [2 cannot bea seiigagea from its bearing. h c mpar on the d d and solid lines in' Figure 2 will r'e'rider it'o thata similar relative engagement between 2! and bars l8 continues, notonly whilet e p H are moving between the illustrated positions but fora considerable additional .reductio'ri in the angle between theseat and members l l sinc the tension of springs 25 willincrease progres sively from the solid line position of Figure lto the ultimate angular position inwhich em ber I2 is separable from its; bearing iawilhbe obvious that the only method of sepa rati g these elements is to. remove theflspringsjfitwhile the; elements are in the solid line position of Figure 2' and then move the structure to the position of disengagement.

It will also be noted from Fig. 3 particularly that the seat is overlies and substantially extends laterally beyond said ears l1, bars [8, and springs 25, and all of the elements are in close spaced relationship to the undersurfaoe of seat l9, whereby the legs of a child or other person seated on said seat are prevented from accidentally being pinched or injured by said elements when the hobby horse is in use.

To provide for operation, one of the members [2 is provided with oppositely projecting rigid stirrups 21 for reception of the feet of the rider and the body support 1 I is provided, at the corresponding end thereof, with a head 28 having oppositely extending hand-grips 29. As shown, the body support is preferably provided with a skirt 3% concealing the spring and bearing element.

Since the structure illustrated is obviously capable of considerable modification without departing from the spirit of my invention, I do not wish to be understood as limiting myself to the present disclosure except as hereinafter claimed.

What I claim is:

1. In a toy of the class described, a base, a pair of inverted U-shaped members pivoted at the lower ends thereof to said base and extending upwardly therefrom in substantial parallelism, a body support having horizontally oppositely opening segmental bearings receiving the bight portions of said U-shaped members, means on said bight portions projecting laterally to ward each other, and springs interconnected to said means on said bight portions of said U-shaped members and serving to hold said bight portions in operative position in said bearings, said springs and said means on said bight portions being so arranged that oscillation of said U-shaped members from a normal vertical position to an inclined position at either side of such vertical position creates an increasing tension in the springs resisting such oscillation in a degree proportionate to the deflection.

2. In a toy of the class described, a base, a pair of inverted U-shaped members pivoted at thellower ends thereof to said base and extending upwardly therefrom in substantial parallelism, a body support having horizontally oppositely opening segmental bearings receiving the bight portions of said U-shaped members, a pair of spaced arms projecting from and fixed to each bight portion and extending toward the other thereof, a bar connecting the ends of said arms, and tension springs connecting said bars and holding said bight portions in position in said bearings.

3. In a toy of the class described, a base, a pair of inverted U-shaped members pivoted at the lower ends thereof to said base and extending upwardly therefrom in substantial parallelism, a body support having horizontally oppositely opening segmental bearings receiving the bight portions of said U-shaped members, a pair of spaced arms projecting from and fixed to each bight portion and extending toward the other thereof, a bar connecting the ends of said arms, and tension springs connecting said bars and holding said bight portions in position in said bearings and said arms being engaged with the ends of said bearings to thereby prevent transverse shifting of said body support.

4. In a toy of the class described, a base, a pair of inverted U-shaped members pivoted at the lower ends thereof to said base and extending upwardly therefrom in substantial parallelism, a body support having horizontally oppositely opening segmental bearings receiving the bight portions of said U-shaped members, a pair of spaced arms projecting from and fixed to each bight portion and extending toward the other thereof, a bar connecting the ends of said arms, and tension springs connecting said bars and holding said bight portions in position in said bearings, said bars being of a length to receive the ends of a plurality of springs whereby by adding or removing a spring or springs the effort required to produce a given angular deflection of the U-shaped members may be varied.

5. In a toy of the class described, a base, a pair of members pivoted upon parallel axes at the lower ends thereof to said base and extending upwardly therefrom in substantial parallelism, said members having horizontal portions at the upper ends thereof which extend transversely of the base, a body support having horizontally oppositely opening segmental bearings receiving said portions of said members, a pair of spaced arms projecting from and fixed to each of said portions and extending toward the other thereof, a bar connecting the ends of said arms, and tension springs connecting said bars and holding said portions in position in said bearings.

6. In a toy of the class described, a base, a pair of members pivoted upon parallel axes at the lower ends thereof to said base and extending upwardly therefrom in substantial parallelism, said members having horizontal portions at the upper ends thereof which extend transversely of the base, a body support having horizontally oppositely opening segmental bearings receiving said portions of said members, a pair of spaced arms projecting from and fixed to each of said portions and extending toward the other thereof, a bar connecting the ends of said arms, and tension springs connecting said bars and holding said portions in position in said bearings and said arms being engaged with the ends of said bearings to thereby prevent transverse shifting of said body support.

7. In a toy of the class described, a base, a pair of members pivoted upon parallel axes at the lower ends thereof to said base and extending upwardly therefrom in substantial parallelism, said members having horizontal portions at the upper ends thereof which extend transversely of the base, a body support having horizontally oppositely opening segmental bearings receiving said portions of said members, a pair of spaced arms projecting from and fixed to each of said portions and extending toward the other thereof, a bar connecting the ends of said arms, and tension springs connecting said bars and holding said portions in position in said bearings, said bars being of a length to receive the ends of a plurality of springs whereby by adding or removing a spring or springs the effort required to produce a given angular deflection of the members may be varied.

8. In a toy of the class described, a base, a pair of members pivoted upon parallel axes at the lower ends thereof to said base and extending upwardly therefrom in substantial parallelism, said members having horizontal portions at the upper ends thereof which extend transversely of the base, a horizontal body support having horizontally oppositely opening segmental bearings receiving said portions of said members, arms projecting from and fixed to each of said portions and extending toward the other thereof.

tension springs operatively connecting said arms and holding said portions in position in said bearings, and means preventing disengagement of said portions from said bearings until the body support and said members are in acute angular relation to one another.

9. A device as claimed in claim 8 wherein said horizontal portions comprise bars secured to said arms, said bars being positioned relative to said bearings so as to be engageable therewith when attempting to disengage said members from said bearings except when said members and body support are acutely angularly related.

10. A device as claimed in claim 8 wherein said horizontal portions comprise bars secured to said arms, said bars being positioned relative to said bearings so as to be engageable therewith when ROBERT C. SWENGEL.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 542,850 Garben July 16, 1895 820,111 Hermann May 8, 1906 1,426,171 Frederick Aug. 15, 1922 2,015,974 Stannard Oct. 1, 1935 2,302,239 McKinney Nov. 17, 1942 2,423,248 Middler July 1, 1947 

